Brynaman, captained by Clive Llewelyn, eventually finished their day when they went out to the Welsh Wizards 33-19 in the Plate quarter final but had the satisfaction of getting further in the competition than all three Division One sides Llandovery, Merthyr and Glamorgan Wanderers. Cwmgors, despite the commitment of Lee Howells, Matt Dunn and Arfon Davies failed to make much impact. They lost Pool G games to London Nigerians 27-0 and Old Redingensians 12-5 but salvaged some pride by edging home dramatically 21-l9 against yet another English side in Windsor.

A hat-trick of tries by centre Tracy Lewis helped Llandovery to a 33-24 win over Stourbridge at Church Bank. The strong running former Royal Marine was the outstanding performer of the game but was pushed hard by two of Llandovery's close-season signings, Neil Clapham and Stuart Harries. Ex-Neath U21 fly-half Clapham looked sharp while adventurous ex-Dunvant fullback Harries scored a try and was denied another when a chip and chase effort brought a penalty try for the home team.

The Midlanders, who gained promotion from England North 3 last year, will this year play against the likes of Orrell, Waterloo and Rosslyn Park in National Division Two and they provided the Drovers with a stern test. Half-backs Bruce Fenley and Duncan Hughes, who played for Gloucester and Bedford respectively, along with former Cambridge University flanker and captain Nigel Richardson impressed for the visitors, who were only outscored by five tries to four.

Irish eyes were not smiling at Church Bank as Llandovery proved far too strong in the second half for Young Munster and ran out convincing 5 tries to 1 winners. The visitors, on a 3-day training camp in Wales, did not field their British Lions Rob Henderson and Peter Clohessy, nor four other Munster squad members, but as befits a side that finished third in last year’s First Division, they proved stern opposition for all but the final quarter.

Ex Bay of Plenty Wing Finbar Hogan got an excellent first half try for the men from Limerick and the Irish forwards with hooker Bevan Cantrell to the fore gave as good as they got until they faded in the final quarter of the contest.

The Drovers took time to settle down but new boys Neil Clapham at fly half and Stuart Harries at full back made big impressions, as did another newcomer in ex-Bridgend and Llanelli flanker Ceri Davies who got two tries through good reading of the game and fine support play. Clapham, who has signed for Neath, also crowned a top performance with a classy break and try whilst two of the Church Bank stalwarts of recent campaigns, flanker Gareth Thomas and centre Tracy Lewis, fully deserved tries for their non stop efforts.

Ex-Llandovery College wing and captain Rhodri Gomer Davies made some thrilling runs but held on a little too long for tries to ensue, whilst up front No.8 Aled Davies and the two Andrew Joneses, prop and captain Andrew Bryn Jones and hooker Andrew Richard Jones, were purposeful and combative forwards.

The Llandovery replacements too, centre Rhys Gosling, wing Andy Richards, prop Jack Bennett, lock Iwan Davies and flankers Wayne Beynon and Will Price, all looked fit and hungry and ready to challenge for starting line up spots.

Dunvant signing Harries kicked all five conversions with considerable aplomb and will be a major factor in Llandovery’s challenge for a high league position this year which starts off this Saturday, September 1, with the away visit to Blackwood who are coached by former Llandovery lock and captain Ian Jones.

Young Munster coach John Moloney’s opinion that Llandovery would hold their own in the Irish First Division was proof enough that the Drovers are lively outsiders for Division One honours. It is still not too late to get 4-1 with local bookmaker Nobby Clarke for The Drovers to finish in the top six. 

See Latest News section for programme notes.

But more excellent driving by the home forwards gave scrum half Richard Lewis, son of former Abertillery, Wales and British Lion scrum half Alan Lewis, the chance to feed Jones who calmly dropped the crucial goal seven long minutes into injury time.

Bedwas won their first ever match in Division One of the Welsh National League and noone, just no-one at Church Bank begrudged them their famous victory. Bedwas backs coach Stephen Law stressed the importance of the result to the Gwent side - "We have now drawn with Carmarthen Quins and beaten a side who have always been terribly difficult to get the better of on their own patch and this will give us tremendous confidence for the long campaign ahead." Law need have no fears about his backs who will test the best defences of the division and in Paul Williams, on loan from Bridgend, they have acquired a pivot who oozes class. Williams was involved in all that happened behind the Bedwas scrum, made two tries and was a continual thorn in the side of a Drovers team who looked badly organised behind and slow to support up front.

Bedwas scored three first-half tries, the highlight a break from Paul Williams putting in wing Matt Pizey. Centre Andy Harrison and scrum-half Wayne Bray also crossed and Llandovery's only try before the break was a solo effort by fly-half Neil Clapham, plus eight points from the boot of full-back Stuart Harris. A try by centre John Welch early in the second half put Bedwas 29-13 up before full-back Paul Phillips struck a penalty for a personal tally of 12 points (three conversions and two penalties) to put the visitors out of sight.

Llandovery's consolation try by replacement scrum-half Rob Walters, a close-range scrambled affair four minutes from time, converted by Harris, was of no consequence whatsoever.

See Latest News section for programme notes.

Llandovery looked comfortable with their 15-6 half-time lead after Harries was successful with penalty kicks in the 1^st, 3^rd, 15^th, 19^th and 30^th minutes. After the break Whitland retaliated and moved to within three points of levelling the match but Llandovery held firm and gained their victory.

For one brief moment, it looked as though Pontypool would prevail, but then the Llandovery back put an end to any such aspirations and a second try for Clapham and a splendid score by substitute Herman Bosman sealed the issue.

After the previous week’s great victory in Pontypool expectations of both the home supporters and players were high at Church Bank in expectation of a good game and success against Newbridge. Winning the toss Llandovery’s Captain Andrew Jones elected to play against the wind in the first half. Right from the kick off the Newbridge tactics were evident as their outside half Jason Williams put up a succession of high kicks which the home defence found very difficult to cope with. After one such missed catch in the fifth minute, centre Stuart Pennell scooped up the ball, made a clear break through the defence before passing to co-centre and captain Andrew Green to score the first try of the game. The conversion attempt failed and Llandovery were quick to respond when full back Stuart Harries kicked an excellent penalty into the wind to reduce the deficit to two points.

Newbridge continued to put pressure on the home defence with a variety of long kicks deep into the Drovers’ 22, and following a line out the Llandovery forwards took a Newbridge drive to ground Quick thinking by their prop Alan Oliver, who took a tap and charged over the line before the Llandovery defence had time to organise, resulted in a second try. Again the home team immediately responded and a series of forward rushes took the game deep into the Newbridge half from where the ball was quickly handled across the three quarter line for left wing Gary Davies to cross for a try in the corner.

With the score standing at 8-10 and the end of the first half approaching the Llandovery supporters were eagerly awaiting their use of the wind in the second half. However Newbridge were not finished. A strong rally in the last few minutes of the half saw a try by centre Stuart Pennell, converted by Jason Williams, who also kicked a penalty, raise the deficit to a more difficult 12 points.

As anticipated the Drovers’ outside half Gary Williams adopted similar tactics to those seen from Newbridge in the first half. He kicked excellently, fully utilising the strong wind, and the Gwent side never looked like breaking the strangle hold that was applied. This pressure was soon turned into points as the ever reliable boot of Stuart Harries kicked two penalties to narrow the points gap to 6. To their credit Newbridge defended stubbornly, and with the Drovers showing a certain lack of discipline in attack the away side were able to maintain their narrow lead into the final quarter of the game.

It was at this point that referee David Swain, who was having a good game, suffered a knee injury and had to be replaced by touch judge Howard Wilson. The first action of the replacement referee was to signal a Llandovery try. Following a good midfield ruck a powerful break by scrum half Rob Waiters was supported by Ceri Davies who released thee ball quickly to enable wing Rhodri Gomer Davies to cross for a try in the corner.

The conversion failed but the game was now finely balanced at 19-20, with the home team continuing to pressurise the Newbridge line. In their efforts to keep Llandovery from taking the lead the Gwent side resorted to illegal tactics at the ruck but this lack of discipline enabled Stuart Harries to kick another three penalties in quick succession. This put Llandovery into the lead for the first time as the final minutes of the match approached. The last act was yet to come as full back Stuart Harries fielded a Newbridge kick in his own 22 and charged down field. The way seemed to open before him as he continued through the whole Newbridge side until, faced by the last defender, Stuart kicked ahead and despite being tackled as he chased after the ball he just managed to win the race for the touchdown to gain himself an excellent try to add to the 6 penalties that he had converted previously. The final conversion was handed to Ceri Davies who, after a successful kick, became the First Llandovery forward to register any points in the league this season.

Whilst the accolade of Man of the Match must be awarded to Stuart Harries for his personal tally of 23 points, the excellent kicking of outside half Gary Williams and the stream of possession obtained through first rate forward play must also be praised for their major influence in contributing to this fine win. Coaching organiser Geraint Williams was delighted with the win, and singled out the way in which the whole Llandovery side had followed up their kicks, blanking out the prospects of a counterattack and setting a pattern of very offensive defence.

With three successive wins, Llandovery travel to Cardiff to meet (Glamorgan Wanderers on Tuesday before the prospect of the local derby game next Saturday against Carmarthen Quins. With both sides well placed in the upper part of the league table a close contest before a large crowd is eagerly anticipated.

See Latest News section for programme notes.

Harries was immediately on target with a penalty at the start of the second half, but Bellamy again ripped through to put wing James Davies over, Treharne converting from the touchline. But the Drovers immediately hit back and Wayne Beynon and Ceri Davies collected tries, both converted by Harries. Wanderers, despite a patched up back division kept battling and outside-half Gruff Rees got a try, but Tracey Lewis and Bosman wrapped it up, both tries being converted by Harries, to give the full-back a haul of 19 points.

Carmarthen Quins won the Towy Valley derby in conclusive fashion before a good Church Bank crowd, outscoring the Drovers by five tries to two. It put a definite stop to Llandovery’s recent good run of four consecutive victories over Whitland, Pontypool, Newbridge and Glamorgan Wanderers and emphasised the excellence of the Quins effort.

Team Manager Anthony Dragone was delighted at the performance of the whole side. “This is the first time in seven league games that backs and forwards have played well together and to outscore Llandovery five tries to two on their own patch is quite an achievement” said Dragone. “We lost here 36-23 last year and it’s nice to see that we’ve scored the 36 points this year and not the Drovers. I thought that our forwards combined well at set and loose and Danzi Niblo had a powerful game in ruck and maul along with most of the pack. We also had far more penetration behind the scrum with a special mention here for fly-half Julian Howells. He controlled things very well throughout, against and with the strong wind, and got his backs moving fluently."

Behind the Quins scrum the guile of Darren Simpson and the strength of converted scrum half Emyr Jones forged a powerful weapon and between them the centres scored three of their side’s five tries.

Llandovery hardly sniffed the ball in the opening quarter and the only surprise at halftime was that they actually led 13-12. Although Emyr Jones had run strongly for a brace of tries, one of which was beautifully crafted for him by Simpson, Llandovery’s heroic defence in which the back row of Gareth Thomas, No. 8 Matthew Monaghan and Ceri Davies performed marvels, kept them in the game. There were half a dozen occasions when the big Carmarthen forwards threatened the try line only to be denied by a whisker. But against the run of play, sturdy home wing Gary Davies held off two tacklers to squeeze in on the left and prolific full back Stuart Harries kicked two penalties and a touchline conversion to sneak the narrowest of leads.

Even when Simpson cleverly danced around opposite number Tracy Lewis to score a try under the posts, Llandovery stuck manfully to their task. Replacement No. 8 Chris Davies crashed through for a try after good approach work by scrum half Rob Walters and prop Dorian Williams.

A handsome penalty from Howells put Quins 22-20 up with just nine minutes of the second half gone and from there on the Quins’ superior upper body strength began to tell. No. 8 Stuart Jenkins, whose charges in the loose made him Quins’ main challenger for Man of the Match along with Emyr Jones, picked up from the back of a scrum and his strength ploughed through the cover for a crucial score with just over 10 minutes to go.

Llandovery tried valiantly to open out but the Quins’ defence was vigilant. The tackling of Emyr Jones and Darren Simpson on Llandovery danger man Tracy Lewis was a notable feature and there was one tremendous piece of covering by replacement Kevin Jones who had come on in the first half after Deiniol Evans had broken his nose. The wing cleverly anticipated a chip ahead by home fly half Gary Williams just under the shadow of the Carmarthen posts before escaping the clutches of would be chasers to race away to safety.

As Llandovery tired, it was always on the cards that they would concede another try and when an attack broke down on half way Emyr Jones hacked on for full back Barry Thomas to show good pace and outstrip the turned defence to gain the touchdown that HoweIIs improved upon with his fourth conversion of the day.

The score line was harsh on the Drovers, who competed hard in the second half.

See Latest News section for programme notes.

Today’s mascots are Tom, Wil & Jimmy Boulter. Most of you will recognise the surname and create the link with two of our town’s doctors - Mark and Kate. All three have been very loyal, and indeed, talented members of Llandovery’s Junior Drovers with Wil being a member of the fearsome Cilycwm front row referred to last week. Who knows, in years to come they might follow in the footsteps of John Williams or (if they inherit some of their fathers’ talents!) the Marx brothers (showing my age!) 

Mwynhewch eich diwrnod fechgyn

In ideal conditions at Church Bank the spectators were treated to an exciting display of open, running rugby that was a credit to the first division. Unfortunately for the home supporters the majority of the points were claimed by the visitors and the once ‘fortress-like’ Llandovery ground has seen the Drovers concede 80 points in the last two home games. However the game was still wide open at half time with Aberavon just edging the first half by a score of 23 points to 27 in their favour. 

Within the first minute of the game Aberavon took the lead. A good move started by the backs deep in their own half saw supporting flanker Andrew Thomas cross for a try. Outside half Jamie Davies converted and soon after kicked two penalties when Llandovery were twice caught offside to establish a 13 points to nil lead. Llandovery in their first incursion into the visitors’ half were rewarded when full back Stuart Harries landed a penalty goal but at this stage it was Aberavon who were very much in charge. They soon went further ahead when following some excellent running and passing wing Nicky Bonham scored wide out for Jamie Davies to put over a touch -line conversion to increase the score to 3-20. 

The Drovers to their credit never gave up. Good close work from the forwards drove the ball deep into the opposition half and following a period of pressure the ball came out to wing Gary Davies who calmly dropped a goal. Continuing to grow in confidence the Llandovery team kept up their pressure and were further rewarded when centre Tracy Lewis charged down a clearing kick, followed up and scored a try in the corner as the ball rolled over the line. The dependable Stuart Harries added the extra points with a conversion from the touch-line to give the score a more encouraging look at 13-20. 

At this stage of the game the home team back row of Ceri Davies, Matthew Monaghan and Chris Davies were dominant in the loose and their driving, rucking and ball carrying took the game to Aberavon and from this pressure Aberavon conceded another penalty for killing the ball. Stuart Harries unusually missed the kick, the ball bouncing back into play off the post and from this he made up for the miss by putting over a magnificent drop goal from near the half way line. 

The good work of the Llandovery forwards was countered by the much more decisive and penetrative running of the Aberavon backs, particularly centres Matthew Back, New Zealander Scott Leighton and ex South Wales Police player, full back Ricky Price. The latter cut through some weak Llandovery tackling to hand on to wing Sam Greenway who crossed for the try. Again Jamie Davies converted to take the score to 16-27. 

Not to be outdone the home backs began to figure more prominently and wing Jamie Roberts looked dangerous in attack with the limited number of chances he received. Following some good work by the home three quarters Stuart Harries broke clear down the touchline, kicked ahead but was cynically taken out by the last defender. From the resulting penalty on the 5 metre line the alert Ceri Davies took a tap and crashed over for a try before the defence could be marshalled. Stuart Harries converted and the half time whistle sounded to bring a halt to a half which had seen 50 points being scored. At this stage with the score balanced at 23-27 either side looked capable of winning the match. 

Early exchanges in the second period were even, with neither side threatening their opponents’ line until with a quarter of an hour gone Scott Leighton once again breached the home defences, found full back Ricky Price up in support who scored a try near the touch-line. He converted his own try to make the situation much more difficult for the Drovers who, entering the final 20 minutes, found themselves now trailing by 23 points to 34. Their response was to use Tracy Lewis on the crash ball through the centre. Aberavon seemed alert to this ploy and time after time he was met by at least two tacklers. Following these attempts the ball was frequently lost and from one such situation Aberavon converted another penalty to establish a fourteen point cushion at 23-37. 

At this stage and becoming increasingly desperate to increase their score Llandovery ignored easy points from kickable penalties to go for the extra points of tries and conversions but their attempts were easily dealt with by the defence and it was Aberavon who were to score the final points of the game. Replacement scrum-half Dan Hawkins, who looked lively from the time he entered the game, flicked a neat pass to Scott Leighton for the centre to run straight through from half way to score under the posts. Jamie Davies added the extra points with the conversion to bring the final score to Aberavon 44 points, Llandovery 23. 

The second half was certainly disappointing for the home supporters as their side never gave up but lacked the penetration shown by the Aberavon backs and they were also let down by some of their first time tackling. The lines out were good but unusually the home scrum seemed under pressure much of the time and both scrum half Rob Walters and number 8 Matthew Monaghan had to work hard to relieve the situation. To be fair to the Llandovery side, in their eight games to date, they have played six of the seven clubs above them in the league table. If they wish to retain their position in the top half they now need to regroup and record victories against those sides below them starting away at Treorchy next Saturday and Llanharan at home the following Wednesday evening.

See Latest News section for programme notes.

Wing Gary Davies, in action against Aberavon

Today’s mascot is the third member of that now famous triumvirate, The Cilycwm Front Row - Anthony Norejko, son of Janesh and the quite unassuming NFU Group secretary Maria! On the run and in a temper there are some Welsh black Bulls who would think twice about stopping him (Anthony not Maria!). However, he does have a quieter, entrepreneurial side and following his latest acquisition of 10 hens if anyone wishes to buy free range eggs then no doubt Anthony will sell them to you. Furthermore, Anthony plays the piano and violin, swims competitively for Ammanford Swimming Club and is a very popular member of Llandovery Drovers under 11s. Mwynha dy ddiwrnod Anthony. PS first to the bar to tell me who from Llandovery has swum the English Channel wins a pint (apart that is from her immediate family!)

Centre Michael Price opened Treorchy’s scoring with an 11th-minute try converted by fly-half Movete Oto’Ota. The Tongan player also dropped a smart goal in the 27th minute. Left wing Matthew Rowlands stepped inside a couple of tackles to grab the Zebras’ second touchdown soon after the restart. Langmead converted but struck the upright with a 35-metre penalty attempt midway through the second period which ultimately proved costly.

The Drovers won as comfortably as the score suggests and could have rattled up far more points if they had not given so many careless penalties away in the last quarter. They scored five good tries to lead 43-11 with over 20 minutes to go and looked set to run up a cricket score against a limited and one-paced Llanharan outfit. 

The visitors opened brightly enough with their one outstanding player, Maori Aaron Takarangi, on dual registration for Ebbw Vale, running hard for a solo try but from then on there was only one side in it. 

Llandovery wing Gary Davies set the ball rolling with a try after charging down a kick by full-back Huw Russell. Flankers Wayne Beynon and Aled Davies were on top of their form in the loose but it was No 8 Paul Jones, on loan from Neath, who got Llandovery's second try after a break by scrum-half Rob Walters and, with full-back Stuart Harries kicking two penalties and a conversion, the home side led 18-11 at half-time. 

The Dairymen's only other first-half scores were a penalty apiece from fly-half Chris John and scrum-half Greg Jones, but after the break the Drovers cut loose. Good continuity made tries for centre Herman Bosman and Walters and another eight points from the boot of Harries knocked the stuffing out of Llanharan.

See Latest News section for programme notes.

This pressure eventually told when prop Andy May crossed for a corner try and Jason Davies, now playing at outside half, slotted a second penalty to put the game well beyond the Drovers’ reach. On the day the home side, needing the points to get away from the lower reaches of the table, were more decisive and this coupled with greater determination proved to be too much for Llandovery, who were well below their best form.

Report #1
Llandovery beat their old West Wales rivals by a decisive five tries to nil and with a bit more steadiness could have scored two or three more tries. Dunvant had little to offer and were outplayed in every phase other than the line-out, where locks Mike Davies and Mark Glover and No 8 Phil Middleton did manage to secure ball as well as deny Llandovery possession. 

The Drovers had an outstanding pair of flankers in ex-Dunvant player Ceri Davies and Gareth Thomas and their tidying up of the loose ball, support play and tackling was the feature of the night. Alongside them for the honour of top performer of the night was scrum-half Rob Walters, whose quickness of thought and deed provided his backs with space and time to create openings. 

Walters made the opening try with a quick tap penalty and pass to wing Gary Davies, another Drover who was in top form, and although Dunvant competed hard up front they were powerless to stop Thomas and Gary Davies combining to send Ceri Davies over before half time.  Full-back Stuart Harries converted both and soon after half-time added the conversion to a try by the ever-present Thomas after veteran lock Dai Giles had been held up short of the line. 

Dunvant tired and the penalty by Harries plus a brace of well-worked and supported tries by hooker Andrew Jones and centre Herman Bosman gave the Drovers the clear-cut victory they undoubtedly deserved.

Report#2
Llandovery beat their old rivals from West Wales League days with considerable ease and rammed home the fact that the Swansea club faces a long hard winter in an effort to survive relegation. Both coaches, Iestyn Thomas and Brian Powell, have successfully coached Carmarthen Athletic in recent years but it was Thomas who had the smile on his face last Friday night after seeing his Drovers pull clear in the second half under the Church Bank lights.

If it had not been for superior Dunvant lineout work the Drovers would have certainly run up a half century of points and the only reason that the score was a mere 14-0 to Llandovery at the break was almost uniquely down to the work of locks Mike Davies and Mark Glover and No 8 Phil Middleton.

Llandovery were sharper and more robust in every other phase of play and had in former Dunvant flanker Ceri Davies the most influential player of the night. Given the Llandovery captaincy for the first time in the absence of injured prop Andrew Bryn Jones, Davies produced by far and away his best performance of the season. His knack of tidying up scrappy ball and anticipating the flow of the game underlined the class that had seen him valued at both Llanelli and Bridgend. At 28 he has given up any ambition of Welsh Scottish competition but for Division One he is a considerable talent and hugely enjoying life with the Drovers, alongside brothers and fellow forwards Iwan and Aled Davies.

Not that his was the only performance of note for the Drovers. Scrum half Rob Walters was as busy as a bee in covering acres of ground in attack and defence, wing Gary Davies ran brilliantly out of defence on a number of occasions and on loan Neath prop Paul Jones charged about in sprightly fashion in the loose.

Dunvant had little to offer other than a willingness to try to play football but they neither had the power in the loose nor the guile behind to make a real fist of it. Scrum half replacement Gary Jones tried manfully to inject some urgency into the play but his earnest passing and probing produced little, such was the sound defence of the home side.

Gary Davies and Ceri Davies finished off outflanking moves to get the Llandovery first half tries, converted by last year’s Dunvant full back Stuart Harries, and after the break it was only a question of how many points Llandovery could rattle up against opponents whom they have, in the past, found difficult to beat.

Flanker Gareth Thomas, ex Seven Sisters hooker Andrew R Jones and South African Herman Bosman all crossed, with the last try coming at the end of a tremendous counter attack inspired by Gary Davies and Paul Jones. Harries kicked four out of five conversions and then a penalty goal as the Drovers won in a canter to record their biggest win over Dunvant for many a year.

See Latest News section for programme notes.

This poor display left coach Iestyn Thomas and coaching organiser Geraint Williams looking very glum as they contemplated the work they will need to put in this week in preparation for next Saturday’s home fixture with Cross Keys. They will need to win at Church Bank to keep in touch with the top half of the table.

Former Premier Division side Cross Keys were well beaten by a Llandovery XV whose pack took firm control after the break to run out far clearer winners than the score suggests.

The Drovers put in an outstanding second half performance to completely outplay a team that struggled to come to terms with the physicality and cohesion of the home eight in which veteran No. 8 Chris Davies was in great form. The Cross Keys pack committed the fatal mistake of trying to out muscle a powerful Llandovery unit whose scrum and lineout w as rock solid and their strength in the close exchanges hugely impressive.

Keys opened in positive fashion for fly half Gethin Worgan to kick penalties and over anxiety cost the Keys at least two tries, but home centre Tracy Lewis knocked the stuffing out of the visitors ten minutes before the break. The high stepping Lewis brushed tacklers like autumn leaves as he ploughed up the middle and although Keys managed to contain the movement, in which Chris Davies was the key link, the ball went across the field in the other direction. Hooker Jones swivelled through desperate tackles to feed who other than Lewis and the centre swerved in and out of yet more tacklers to cross for one of the best tries seen at Church Bank for some time. Full back Stuart Harries added the conversion and with his earlier penalty it meant that the Drovers went into the break ahead.

It was all Llandovery thereafter as the pack turned the screw The front row of Dorian Williams, Andrew R Jones and the captain Andrew B Jones gave their opposite numbers a gruelling time at the scrums whilst at the line out Lyndon Bateman and Matthew Monaghan had one of their most fruitful days of the year.

The immaculate Harries confidently kicked a further two penalties to one by Worgan before Llandovery turned ever better possession into points. Right wing Rhodri Gomer Davis appeared out of the blue to burst onto a pass from omnipresent hooker Jones to cut the Keys line to ribbons.

The third Drovers try of the afternoon reflected their dominance of the tight when Keys lost the ball at a scrum and a quick pass from veteran No. 8 Davies, one of the great servants of the Towy Valley Club, sent Roberts, back to his best at the base of the scrum, haring over without a hand laid on him. Harries thumped two conversions high between the posts to round off a faultless display of place kicking for a personal tally of 18 points.

To the Keys’ credit, they kept at it and with replacement scrum half James Pizey always in the thick of things, the visitors took advantage of very careless Drovers’ defence. Very late tries came from wing Gareth Davies and lock Paul Watkins, both converted by Worgan. The final score-line certainly flattered the men of Gwent and they were brave enough to admit it.

See Latest News section for programme notes.

Today’s mascot is Tom Copps, a member of the Junior Drovers under 11s. He attends Ysgol Gynradd Cilycwm where he lives with his parents Steve & Mary. He is actively involved with the Llandovery Cub Scouts where his father also contributes as one of the leaders. Perhaps today would be an appropriate time to express our gratitude to Nigel and Val Cole together with their assistants for creating a resurgence in the Cub Scouts of Llandovery. The Cub Scouts together with Junior Drovers are two of the most popular and valuable opportunities for the youngsters of this town. When it comes to rugby, Tom has been training on Tuesday nights for the last four years (apart from a short lay off when he broke his leg), and is proof that everybody, given practice, can improve. This year Tom is a valuable member of the team and his efforts are appreciated by his coaches and his team mates. Diolch Tom am yr holl Ymroddiad a dal ati.

The first quarter of this match at Church bank saw a Merthyr team look anything but a side struggling near the bottom of the division as they dominated both territory and possession. They were rewarded for their efforts when after 15 minutes of play ex-Llandovery full back Stuart Hancox opened the scoring with a well struck penalty. Llandovery’s reply was instantaneous when outside half Neil Clapham jinked inside the drift defence near the half way line, straightened up and outpaced the remaining defenders to score an excellent individual try. Although the conversion failed Stuart Harries soon kicked his first penalty to give the Drovers an 8-3 lead.

This lead galvanised the home team into greater efforts and they took command of a game that from this point could only have one outcome as they progressed to score a further five tries and completely outplay the Ironmen. Merthyr to their credit never gave up trying but they had neither the skill nor the pace to trouble a confident Drovers who put on one of their best displays of the season.

Neil Clapham was in fine form at outside half, benefiting from a stream of possession from the line out where Matthew Monaghan and veteran Dai Giles were in excellent form and also from the scrums where Chris Davies at Number 8 controlled effectively. Indeed it was Clapham who was instrumental in setting up the Drovers’ second try as he made a half break, passed back to looping scrum half Jamie Roberts and slick hands from centre Herman Bosman enabled wing Gary Davies to cross for a try in the corner to establish a halftime lead of 13 points to 3.

The second period again showed the Drovers in total command as Stuart Harries kicked a second penalty and a third try was scored within four minutes of the restart. Welsh International Mark Jones, returning from an injury suffered during the summer’s tour of Japan, made a good run down the wing. The ball was worked back inside where centre Tracy Lewis in usual combative manner crashed into the centre of the Merthyr defence, where the supporting forwards took up the move with prop Dorian Williams completing the try.

The fourth try again came as a result of forceful centre Lewis testing the Merthyr defence. From a five metre scrum Jamie Roberts switched the direction of attack, passed directly to Lewis who was unstoppable from short distance, scattering defenders to score under the posts. Stuart Harries added two extra points for the conversion.

The fifth Llandovery try was the best of the lot. The forwards drove on through several phases of rucks setting up the ball for runners before scrum half Roberts switched the direction of the attack. Neil Clapham threw out a terrific miss pass to outside centre Bosman who slipped the ball to full back Harries who, entering the line on an impressive angle at top speed, crossed the Merthyr line.

With both sides bringing on replacements it was Merthyr who next scored when after some good pressure centre Kristian Owen was at last able to cross the Drovers’ line for a consolation try. The home team were not finished however, when from the kick off wing Gary Davies gathered a loose ball, chipped over the defence, followed up his own kick to outpace all Merthyr defenders and complete the scoring for the match to leave Llandovery clear and fully justified winners by 38 points to 8.

Next Saturday sees the first of the ‘return’ matches when the Drovers take on Blackwood at Church bank. In the first game of the season Llandovery were narrowly defeated by one point when the Blackwood out